This invention relates to cooking apparatus and, in particular, portable cooking apparatus suitable for barbecuing outdoors and cooking apparatus employing fuel gas such as propane.
Mobile outdoor cooking apparatus including barbecue grilling devices are well known in the cooking and barbecuing industry. Such devices typically include a support frame on which ground engaging wheels are mounted and that can include a hitch mounted at a front end of the support frame for towing purposes. A plurality of cooking elements can be mounted on the frame together with a rechargable fuel tank for holding a fuel gas such as propane or liquified natural gas.
A known portable propane cooking trailer is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,210 which issued Mar. 26, 1996 to A. P. Van Hoogmoed. This trailer has a frame with tandem mounted ground engaging wheels and a hitch at the front end for towing purposes. A first pair of cooking elements disposed back to back is located on a forward portion of the frame while a second pair of cooking elements disposed back to back is disposed on a rear portion of the frame. A large storage compartment is interposed between the from and rear pairs of cooking elements. A large fuel cylinder is provided with the cooking trailer and can be connected to the cooking elements by means of a long supply line. Because the cooking elements are disposed back to back, cooks who are using this cooking trailer carry out their cooking activities on both longitudinal sides of the cooking trailer.
Another mobile cooking apparatus mounted on wheels is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,664 issued Oct. 26, 1993 to D. E. Gurliacci. In this device, there is a single line of cooking stations arranged on one side of the trailer and a parallel line of serving stations arranged on the opposite side of the trailer. These two lines are separated by an upwardly extending smoke baffle and a trough to receive cooked food items. Each cooking station includes a stove that may be of the gas type and that has two burners for heating pans of oil that can be used for deep frying.
One difficulty with these known, relatively large cooking trailers is that they must generally be custom built using components and parts specially designed for the cooking units. The use of specially designed parts and cooking elements can add to the overall expense of the cooking trailer and tends to make them less competitive as compared to other types of cooking and grilling devices that could be used, for example a plurality of standard, relatively small barbecuing grills. Also, because these known cooking trailers tend to be custom built using their own, specially designed components and cooking units, the cost of obtaining government certification for these cooking trailers can be substantial and time consuming.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cooking apparatus suitable for cooking food with a fuel gas that can be made at a relatively low cost and with relative ease using readily available cooking devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a gas cooking apparatus that includes as its main components, a support frame, a main housing mounted on this support frame, and a plurality of separate cooking units mounted in the main housing, which cooking units can be of standard construction, if desired.
According to one aspect of the invention, a cooking apparatus for cooking food with a fuel gas such as propane includes a support arrangement for supporting the apparatus on the ground or other support surface and a main housing mounted on the support arrangement. The main housing includes main side walls that extend vertically. There are also a plurality of cooking units mounted in the main housing, each of these units comprising a smaller housing having an open top, at least one gas burner mounted in this smaller housing, and at least one grill member mounted on the smaller housing above the at least one gas burner. Each smaller housing has a bottom, vertically extending opposite side walls, and vertically extending, opposite end walls connecting the side walls. A gas supply system provides fuel gas to the burners.
According to another aspect of the invention, a movable gas cooking apparatus comprises a supporting frame having two opposite longitudinal sides, a front end and a rear end and ground engaging wheels rotatably mounted on opposite sides of the supporting frame. A housing is also provided, this housing including a lower section having vertically extending, opposing side walls, vertically extending, opposing end walls and an open top. The housing further includes a lid pivotable between open and closed positions and extending over the lower section. There are also a plurality of separate cooking units mounted in two longitudinal rows in the housing, all of these units being oriented so that a front side of each cooking unit faces towards the same side wall of the housing. Each cooking unit includes an open topped enclosure, at least one gas burner mounted in the enclosure, and at least one grill member mounted above the at least one gas burner. The apparatus further includes a gas supply system for providing a fuel gas to the burners.
Preferably the cooking units in one row, including their respective enclosures, are mounted at a higher level than the cooking units in enclosures in the other row, and the other row is located closest to the aforementioned same side wall of the housing.
According to a further aspect of the invention, a portable cooking apparatus includes a longitudinally extending support frame having a rear end and a front end and a tow hitch mechanism mounted on the front end. Ground engaging wheels are rotatably mounted on opposite longitudinal sides of the support frame. A main housing is provided and has vertically extending main side walls. This main housing is mounted on the support frame. There are also a plurality of smaller housings each containing at least one gas burner and each having a bottom, vertically extending opposite side walls, and vertically extending opposite end walls. Each smaller housing is provided with at least one grill member mounted above the at least one gas burner of the respective housing. The smaller housings are fixedly mounted in the main housing. The apparatus includes a gas supply system for providing fuel gas to the burners and a burner control system for operating the gas burners and controlling flow of the fuel gas to the gas burners.
Preferably the smaller housings are arranged in two longitudinally extending rows with at least two of the smaller housings in each row. A main hood is preferably mounted on the main housing and is pivotable between an open position used for cooking and a closed position. This main hood in the closed position covers the open top of the main housing.
Further features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.